Never Dance Again
by TASHAx
Summary: A bit of champagne, a bit of pity and a bit of dancing was all it took to make the world stop for four people. Who came out of the dance better off? And who’ll Never Dance Again?


**Never Dance Again**

"How _dare _you, Draco Malfoy!" screeched the tall, thin redhead, "how _fucking _dare you."

And with those words she apparated away, leaving Draco alone in the reception hall of their mutual friends, Pansy and Neville, whom had earlier gotten married and were now stumbling about slightly drunk. He sighed and threw himself heavily into a chair at the side of the dance floor, many couples had returned to their soft swaying now that Ginny and Draco had finished their yelling. He would go back to the apartment later and hope to smooth things out with her. . .she hadn't wanted to dance, he supposed that's where this all started - she had a bad foot, thanks to her _lovely - _and he used the adjective loosely, even in sarcasm - twin brothers, who had created some sort of prank which worked rather like the sinking steps at Hogwarts, only this could be cast anywhere. Of course Ginny had walked straight into it, and it was only then they realised they had no remedy for it. . .and well, then Mrs Weasley showed up and it all got a bit ugly.

But. . .this is getting slightly off topic; his Ginny couldn't dance and it frustrated her to watch her fiancé wander off and dance with all the other girls, apparently Gin was in jealous mode, though Draco had an inkling she was also sore about the fact dancing was not on her to-do list at that moment in time. . .and, Merlin knows, Ginny does love to dance. He signalled to a passing waitress to hand him a flute of champagne, then downed it in one, before she had even a chance to move away the empty glass had been replaced on the tray.

A sudden whirlwind of huffing, tut-ing and long brown curls was sitting beside him in the chair; Hermione Granger in a hissy fit. _Fabulous_, just what he wanted to deal with right now; another over-emotional woman. Since the War and since he had been seeing Ginny, Draco had become. . .civil with the witch, less so with Potter and if you could forgive the snarling and bitching that went on between him and Ron every time they found themselves in each other's proximity, then you could say he was friendly with the entire Golden Trio.

"Is there a reason you're here, Granger?"

She glared at his clipped tone for a moment then her amber eyes softened slightly upon seeing his words held no malice for her, simply annoyance that Ginny had stormed away.

"Well. . .I, I'm just in a, a bit of a . . ._tiz_"

Draco actually found himself laughing out loud, "A _tiz?_ What in the name of Salazar is a freaking _tiz_?"

Hermione scowled at his taunting then replied, "it means a bad mood. . .I'm angry."

"Ah." came the only response. Both parties lapsed into silence and stared out and the fast moving figures on the dance floor, Blaise and Luna moving with a sort of chaotic beauty, it was kind of hard to take your eyes off of the swaying limbs and intricate spins they both seemed to conduct with each other. Colin Creevey was bopping up and down, his camera firmly planted in his hands, the flash going off every now and again, making the various occupants of his photos, stop moving due to a temporary blindness.

"_Men. . .try so bloody hard and he doesn't notice. . .what am I? Pissing invisible?!"_

"Granger, as much as I'd dearly love to have you carted off to Mungo's mental ward, what, in the name of Circe, are you muttering about?"

"The utterly stupid and yet totally relevant species that is men!"

Draco looked slightly taken aback at her spluttering. ". . .Harry?" he offered quietly.

"_In one_, Albino Boy."

"Excuse me, Prissy Panties, but I am _not _an Albino and. . .why are women so besotted with the speccy git?"

"My Panties are none of your concern and you're just bitter 'cause he and Ginny dated."

"Your Panties are my business if I make 'em my business and. . .as for being bitter. . ._so are you_."

A blush crept up her lightly tanned cheeks, turning them a dark plum colour. And he smirked, pleased. "So, Granger, tell me the whole sordid story. . .Merlin knows, I need a good sleep."

She narrowed his eyes, but did tell him. Told him about how for so many years she'd been yearning for Harry to see her more than a best friend. . .wanted more than a platonic relationship with The Boy Who Lived.

"He wouldn't even dance with me. . .and I'd been practising - you know, lessons and stuff - I'd wanted to, to impress him. . ." a tear slid down her cheek, "Oh _fab_, now I'm crying. Merlin, this is getting ridiculous."

Draco stood fluidly and found himself before the short brunette, holding his hand out to her. "Come on, Granger, I may not be Potter, but I'm a damn sight better at dancing - remember the Yule Ball do you?" he smirked coolly at her and she placed her petite hand in his.

She was a good head shorter than Ginny, meaning her eyes were level with his chest, her figure was very curvy but in a petite way, everything about this woman seemed small, and soft, unlike Gin who was tall and delicate but strong too; independent and fiery. Unlike the woman he was now swaying gently with, Hermione had a delicious vulnerability about her, to the untrained eye she was brash and bossy and brassy. . .but when you observed people, as Draco did, you could see she was indeed a naive and tame girl.

"You're very good." murmured Hermione, her words causing vibrations through Draco's chest.

"Thank you." his polite etiquette responded, "you too, certainly better than anything you performed with Krum at the Yule Ball."

"I had only been fourteen then, Draco, I've grown up a lot since then."

His mercury eyes flashed down at her, from this angle he could see down her fluid like dress and was sufficiently drunk enough to allow himself to appreciate what he saw, "you certainly have, Granger, you certainly have."

Just then a jerk in Draco's back caused the couple to break apart slightly, Harry, along with Gabrielle Delacour - who was there with Bill and her sister Fleur- had been waltzing quite enthusiastically, and interrupted the slow glide Hermione and Draco had been conducting. However the willowy blonde and uncoordinated raven haired man seemed not to notice as they were once again spinning about, Harry's hand nestled nicely in the curve of her back. Tears bloomed once more in Hermione's eyes and Draco, being under the influence of alcohol and not wanting the brunette to cause a scene, dragged her out into the grounds of the hall before she could begin bawling so loudly that she would acquire an audience.

He guided her to a bench beside the brook, the moonlight illuminating their faces. "Ssh, Granger, ssh."

"He - he'd dance with her! But, not - _muh-muh-me!_"

Draco was nonplussed and gingerly held the weeping woman until the flow of tears was sufficiently stemmed, a lovely wet patch on his designer robes and a pair of red rimmed brown eyes was all that remained of the evidence Hermione Granger had been in hysterics.

"Am I just not his type?" she mumbled.

"Stupid boy doesn't know his type."

"But, Ginny. . .and Amelia - his ex - and Alice - his recent ex - and, _Gabrielle Delacour"_ she spoke her name in a ridiculously high and over emphasised French accent, "are all so. . .unlike me." Draco didn't know what to say, yes they were indeed all very different to Hermione, all tall, very slim, fiery and stubborn beauties with the bone structure of models and the owners of a free, rebellious spirit.

"All so beautiful. All so. . .perfect."

Draco snorted, "my dear, I live with Ginny. . .that redhead is far from perfect."

Hermione smiled, "I don't resent Gin, she and Harry were a long time ago. . .but I envy the fact she's the total opposite to me looks wise and it's her that Harry wanted. Probably still wants. . .that's why all his girls have been of the same ilk."

"Now, I seem to remember a short, petite, curvy girl that was the very first love of our bespectacled git's life."

"Huh?"

"Cho Chang, who looked and acted pretty much like you do nowadays. Maybe having his heartbroken by one womanly little lady was enough to make him go for someone the total opposite for the rest of his life. . .maybe he thinks you will be too much like her and break his heart again"

"Or maybe I'm just not attractive!"

"Nonsense."

"What do you mean, _nonsense_, all perfectly --"

She was cut off but a pair of full and rounded, pale pink lips that belong to Draco Malfoy and the tang of champagne was within her, although she had drunk none all night.

"Er, sorry, I shouldn't --" he pulled away apologising, however got no more words out as Hermione placed her hand behind his head and yanked him towards her, plying his lips with strong kisses. If he'd been in a clear mind and un-annoyed at his Ginny, he'd have stopped the shenanigan right there and then, but, he wasn't and so allowed Hermione to apparate him and herself into her flat where they landed in front of her bedroom door.

0x-

They didn't make love. It wasn't soft, gentle or even passionate. There was no comfort. It was selfish. It was unadulterated. It was fucking; hard and rough and without thought. Teeth, nails, blood, torn skin and screams into the night. Draco's hands left large bruises on her thighs where he'd pulled her towards him. The headboard had banged hard against the wall for the majority of the night, Hermione's head smacking it with considerable force each time Draco drove within her. No holding each other. No soft caressing, or tender moments. Then, when it was over Draco passed out on her bed and Hermione stood, reality's sting returning with a harshness of regret; the sour taste of foul play lining her mouth.

That night she didn't sleep, instead sat in the garden, her dressing gown around her, though not even tied up, so that the cold could still reach her, a cold cup of coffee clenched in her hand, of which she gulped some every hour or so. . .tears slipped from her eyes. At about three in the morning Draco awoke, and looked out of the bedroom window, looking down at the bitch in her garden. . .why hadn't she stopped him? Why hadn't she let him walk away after he stopped them kissing. . .? Throwing on his dishevelled clothing he apparated back to his and Ginny's apartment.

His beautiful redhead sat in the arm chair, her head slumped against the pillow, her eyes closed and her breathing heavy and steady. She'd waited for him to return; the self loathing bubbling within him increased tenfold. . .what a fool he'd been. . .

_I'm never gonna dance again  
guilty feet have got no rhythm_

A week later, Hermione, wearing her standard working robes, her hair flying wildly and her make up smudged around her eyes, sat opposite Harry Potter; his large green eyes twinkling and his hands twisting in his lap nervously. He'd invited her to meet up for lunch, they'd done so many times before, but this past week he'd barely seen her. She'd disappeared at Neville's wedding and he'd only caught glimpses of her since. She looked as she normally did; cute, intelligent and ruffled by the day's events. He loved that she was quite happy to walk around with make up or ink streaked across her cheek, it made her look so very adorable. He knew she wasn't confident as she had been before the war, not by a long shot, but she was settling into her adulthood once more, realising who she was and what she was to become.

He knew she probably always now be a little clingy, a little insecure, a little sensitive, but he also knew that she was as witty and sharp as ever, that her brain was still the most knowledgeable he was ever likely to encounter, that she was brave and loyal and it was these reason he was about to do what he did.

The booth they were sitting is was fashioned as a semi-circle, and Harry found himself sliding round closer to his best friend, she smelt delicious; of paper and parchment, of jasmine and the sweet tea she was sipping. . .so totally Hermione. He lifted his hand attentively as the brunette continued her tale - she, not daring to acknowledged Harry's scooting towards her, obviously he just wanted to chat with her, be more friendly, after all since that night after the Wedding no one should want to touch her. . .but apparently he did. - his hand grazed her knee and traced patterns beyond her current comprehension. However she continued her flow of narrative.

". . .so, yes, I asked Padma if she'd seen him approach her, but of course. . ."

"Hermione?"

She gulped. "Yes, Harry?"

"well -- thing is. . .I think, well, to be quite honest, I think I'm in love with you. . ."

_  
Though it's easy to pretend  
I know you're not a fool  
_

"Who was it?" Ginny, dressed in only a pair of knickers and bra was hissing venomously at her fiancé, disappointment and pain etched in her large doe eyes. Only seconds before there had been peace in the bedroom and an instant later the redhead had turned on the blonde she loved.

"What d'you mean, Gin?"

"Don't you dare play me for a fool, Draco Malfoy, don't you dare; who did you fuck?"

He wanted to lie. Wanted to tell her she was crazy, insane and needed to be dragged off to a padded ward at St Mungo's. But he couldn't; the false words wouldn't come. . .she deserved better than what he had done to her and he knew it. The guilt had been festering beneath the surface for a two weeks now, Granger was with Potter and seemed to have forgotten all about he friends, including Ginny let alone the fact she'd bedded the redhead's husband-to-be.

"It doesn't matter."

Tears fell from Ginny's eyes; hot and salty, dribbling down her cheeks and wetting her lips, her face was blotchily red but her stance was defiant; Draco was certain she'd never looked so beautiful, so striking, so fierce and at a contradiction, so very venerable, so very pained, so very heart broken. "I love you." she said simply, quietly.

"I love you too. . ."

"Obviously not enough. I guess I wasn't enough for you, Draco. Well you know what? You just made the biggest fucking mistake of your life. . .no one will ever compare to me; no one. Even this whore, this bint, you shagged, and every time you screw another woman you know it'll be my screams you want to hear, my nails you want down your back. In any relationship you find yourself in none of them will understand you as I did, none of them let you touch their soul as I let you. . .none of them can ever compare to me."

His eyes softened and he too felt tears seeping out of the mercury, ". . .I know."

"I spent my life being second best. Having second hand things; think I need to be in a relationship where I know I'm less than the best?"

"You're never second best; you're perfect."

"And I suppose my brand of perfection wasn't good enough." She waved her wand and suddenly all off her clothes, her shoes, her books, her toiletries were summoned and shrunk into a single bag. "I'm leaving you now, Draco." she said the words calmly, in fact she hadn't raised her voice once at him; she wasn't angry. . .she was beyond furious but most of all she was in pain. She felt disappointed, cheated and second rate.

"When did it happen?"

Draco started forward to cup her cheeks between his hands, make her listen, stop her leaving; he squashed his face close into hers, their tears mingling his lips kissing her harshly all over, any part of her visage they came into contact with was deeply kissed. She didn't react on the exterior a part from her flow of tears becoming more forceful, but on the inside she felt her heart break just a little bit more, if that was a possibility, felt her very core burn with the anguish she felt. "When, Draco?"

"The Wedding."

A friend. She had to know the little whore. She'd known she'd been difficult that night, but she'd been for all intents and purposes crippled and had, had to watch Draco dance with many beautiful women. . .no woman would be happy with that. . .but she thought he'd changed. Thought he'd stopped his sleeping around once he entered a relationship with her; he'd said he had, said he'd loved her, he said he still did. . .and now the moment she turns her back he's with some little chit that she probably knows fairly well.

Ginny couldn't explain how she'd known but she had. A feeling. A tingling. Maybe intuition? Maybe her magic was extra sensitive at the moment? She didn't know why but the fact was she'd known and she'd been right and now it felt like she was been torn in half. The flowers he'd bought her only yesterday, shrivelled and died in the vase on her dressing table, her mirror cracked down the centre and the fire had been reduced to embers due the vast amount of magical emotion Ginny was feeling.

"Now. Who?"

_  
Should've known better than to cheat a friend  
and waste the chance that I've been given_

"Hermione Granger." the shriek Hermione saw was emitting from her redheaded best friend, Ginevra Weasley. Hermione was in her bathroom, applying make up ready for a night out with Harry. . .their third proper date together as a couple.

"Up here, Hon!"

"Don't you fucking dare 'Hon' me you little bitch!" in a flurry of redhead and long limbs Ginny burst through the bathroom door. "You conniving, scheming, cheating, worthless bint!"

Hermione was stunned; Draco. She'd found out about Draco. Draco and her.

"Now, Ginny, just calm down!"

But bottles and mirrors were already smashing of their own accord, helped along no doubt by the magical force that Ginny was pushing out of her with her fury.

SMASH. SMASH. SMASH.

"How dare you? How fucking dare you?"

"There were two of us Ginny!"

"I know that. And I've left him. But he told me everything; you kissed. He pulled back. You kissed and apparated them here."

Hermione hung her head in shame.

"Where'd you do it then, Hermione?" asked Ginny viciously, "in here? In the shower? Against this door? Or was it in your bed? The bed you now share with Harry?"

The brunette had began to weep uncontrollably.

"Don't bother with your tears; I'm not telling Harry. You keep up your happy pretence and let your secret eat away at you. Just because Harry hadn't shown any interest in you until the other week. Is that why you did it? Is that why you decided to tear my world apart? You were jealous? Lonely? Or just in need of a good fuck? Please do tell, I'd love to know. Was it to get me back for daring to be Harry's first? Daring to be prettier, more confident, more likable, more ambitious and more likable than you?"

Ginny was screaming so much she was sure her vocal chords were going to shred themselves, but it didn't matter, nothing mattered. . .so what if she couldn't speak anymore? So what if she never spoke again? There was no one she wanted to speak to ever again. No one left she wanted to tell she loved them.

"Or did you not think of me at all? You know, you've ruined my life; you've broken me. You took away the one thing that has only ever been just mine. I was the youngest of so many, I was always given second best. . .but Draco, he was mine; we fit so perfectly together. And you know what? It wasn't even love for either of you, fucking hell, there wasn't even tenderness; he told me. Just fucking and then he fell asleep and you skulked out."

"Ginny, please. . .stop, you and Draco, you can work it out. .. Like you said it was all my fault so there's no way he'd do anything like that again."

"See that's the difference between you and I - you may be willing to be treated l like a doormat, but me? No way. I told you, he was mine. . .now he's shared, now he's tainted with you. I hate you for it, both of you. . .I love him. Still, I love him so much but can no longer have him and in you I lost a best friend." her voice had become a hoarse whisper but the words spoken still created a huge amount of pain and impact upon the brunette.

"But like I said, no need to worry about me; I won't tell Harry, Merlin, I doubt you'll ever even see me again."

"Where are you going?"

"Japan."

And she disparated.

_  
So I'm never gonna dance again  
the way I danced with you  
_

Harry, blissfully unaware of what had caused Ginny to really move to Japan, lived with Hermione in a happy, homely environment. And eventually Hermione ceased to really remember the incident with Draco, though the guilt was still there for destroying both Ginny and Draco's hearts, it no longer consumed her. Ginny hadn't wanted to leave; Hermione knew how much the redhead had adored her fiancé, she also knew she never should have apparated Draco and herself back to her apartment, but she had what she wanted; Harry, her life, her swelling stomach, indicating a baby Potter-Granger was on it's way. . .although Harry never did understand why Hermione never danced, not even at their wedding. . .he always thought she liked it. . .Hermione, however, would never tell Harry the reason he'd never get the chance to slow dance with his wife.

Draco never did dance again. At parties, gatherings, or even around his kitchen like he'd once do as he and Ginny made dinner, her limbs swirling in the air around him. In fact he never fell in love again; he rolled in and out of relationships, his enthusiasm a mere shell of what it had been. . .eventually he tided himself up, made himself presentable, but rarely went anywhere, rarely he wanted to. Foolishly he'd lost his love, thanks to alcohol, pity and dancing. And now, never would he dance again.

**Author's Note: **Cause I wanted to write something emotional.

Something sad.

Something angry.

Something that reflects my most recent run in with the opposite sex.

Also something Hermione/Draco that isn't badly written.

OKAY. Let me explain.

This is a Hermione/Draco fic as the main characters are said characters.

BUT it says nothing about this being ROMANCE.

It's ANGST/DRAMA.

Kay?

Tasha x


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